USS Mayrant (DD-31)
and
USS Warrington (DD-30)
fitting out, 1910
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USS Mayrant (DD-31) was a Paulding class destroyer that was given Westinghouse geared turbines and operated off the US East Coast during 1918.
The Mayrant was named after Captain John Mayrant, an American naval officer during the War of Independence. She was laid down on 22 April 1909 at Philadelphia, launched on 23 April 1910 and commissioned on 12 July 1911.
The Mayrant spent the winter of 1911-12 operating in the Caribbean. She joined the Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, and operated with that unit into 1915.
In 1915 the Mayrant was given 13,000shp Westinghouse geared turbines as part of a series of trials with the new engines. She took part in the winter trip to Cuba in 1915, but on 20 May 1916 she was decommissioned.
The Mayrant wasn't recommissioned until 2 January 1918, suggesting that her new engines weren't entirely satisfactory. She operated along the US East Coast for the rest of the First World War, escorting convoys along the coast and in the western Atlantic. During this period she helped evacuate the troops being carried on the Henderson (AP-1) after a fire broke out in a cargo hold during that ship's seventh trans-Atlantic voyage. The Henderson survived the fire, and everyone on board survived the incident.
In July 1918 she provided part of the escort for Troop Convoy Group 51, which left New York on 18 July 1918. At this stage the threat from U-boats was very real, and on day after the convoy sailed the cruiser San Diego was sunk by a mine laid by U-156 just off Long Island. The Western Escort Force took the convoy half way across the Atlantic, before handing over to the Eastern Escort on 28 July.
Anyone who served on her between 29 June and 11 November 1918 qualified for the First World War Victory Medal.
After the end of the war she took part in the winter manoeuvres of 1918-19, and then spent a few months operating off the US East Coast with the Atlantic Fleet (including some time operating with USS Mississippi BB-41).
The Mayrant was decommissioned once again on 12 December 1919. In 1920 she lost her name and became known as DD-31. She remained in the reserve until she was struck off on 8 March 1935 and sold for scrap on 21 August.
Displacement (design) |
742t |
Displacement (loaded) |
887t |
Top Speed |
29.5kts design |
Engine |
3-shaft Parson turbines |
Range |
3,000nm at 16kts design |
Length |
293ft |
Width |
26ft 3in |
Armaments |
Five 3in/50 guns |
Crew complement |
86 |
Launched |
23 April 1910 |
Commissioned |
12 July 1911 |
Fate |
Sold for scrap 1935 |
U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann .
The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.
